the whole shebang

scene title:  love is in the air performers:  ivy rein, sarah cute site:  viv thomas (metart) production credits:  sandra shine (dir.), frank mirror (ed.) trailer l: ivy rein, r: sarah cute there's little to say about sandra shine's third entry of the month, and second featuring russian newbie ivy rein. her hungarian partner here, sarah cute, seems to have more credits, but is also relatively new, so it was interesting to see ivy taking the, ahem, reins in their encounter; the last time i saw her, with elin flame, she was more passive. the photography remains exquisite, with a warmth and subtlety that functions as something of a rebuke to the more static and chillier vibe of the fox/veller team that is shine's primary competition at viv thomas. a yardwork montage over sentimental guitar plucks leads to perhaps the fakest bonking of heads i've ever seen when they both reach for the recycling; ivy kisses sarah's forehead to make it better, which ...

scene title:  take the shot performers:  elin flame, ivy rein site:  viv thomas (metart) production credits:  sandra shine (dir.), frank mirror (ed.) trailer l: elin flame, r: ivy rein what a difference even a slight bit of scene-setting makes. the last time i reviewed a viv thomas scene, i couldn't be invested because the two women had no reason to have sex, or indeed to not have sex; they were just there. this time, we open on elin flame and ivy rein playing billiards (not well), and the loser has to dance for the other. (they are both russian, but they speak their few lines in english.) the dance turns into a kiss, and so we're off to the races. part of it also is that sandra shine is undoubtedly a better director than fox and veller: a former performer, she knows how to light and shoot her models to their advantage, and loves to play with deep focus, depth of field, and even reflections to keep the visuals interesting. her shot compositions...